> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g1-1-promoting-a-commercial-sex-act-or-prohibited/ - Published: 2026-11-03T01:39:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:39:51.000Z - Description: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 612 people were sentenced under guideline §2G1.1. The median prison term was 33 months, but the median after a trial was 262 months, and a mandatory minimum applied to 117 people (19%). - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › §2G1.1 **In brief:** In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 612 people were sentenced under guideline §2G1.1\. The median prison term was 33 months, but the median after a trial was 262 months, and a mandatory minimum applied to 117 people (19%). Updated November 2, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 612 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Commercialized Vice and Sexual Abuse Cases The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2G1.1 "Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor." The U.S. Sentencing Commission sorts these 612 cases into Commercialized Vice (419) and Sexual Abuse (193). The post counts everyone sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary guideline was §2G1.1. ## Prison Terms Prison was ordered for 575 people (94%), and probation only for 26 (4%). A life sentence went to 2 people. The median prison term was 33 months (2.8 years). The spread was wide: a quarter received 121.5 months or more, and a quarter received 16 months or less. ## Trials and Guilty Pleas A guilty plea was entered by 562 of 612 people (92%), and 50 were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 94% had a written plea agreement and 6% did not. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 30 months. After a trial it was 262 months, based on 49 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. The plea and trial groups were not matched by facts, so the records cannot show whether the trial caused the difference. ## Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 117 people (19%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 544 (89%), with a median term of 60 months. Supervised release for life was given to 19 people (3%). A fine was ordered for 44 (7%) and restitution for 151 (25%). ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Range Within the guideline range: 250 people (41%). Below the range at the government's request: 171 (28%). Below the range without that request: 121 (20%). Above the range: 70 (11%). In criminal history, 41% were in the lowest category and 12% in the highest. ## A Higher Median in Recent Years In fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 304 people were sentenced and the median prison term was 27 months. In fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 308 people were sentenced and the median was 53.4 months. The yearly table shows the median at 27 months or less through 2020 and at 30 months in 2021\. It was 79 months in 2022, 84 months in 2023, 60 months in 2024, and 75 months in 2025\. The share who pleaded guilty stayed between 88% and 96% in every year. The records do not show what changed in the cases, and they cannot show whether the mix of Commercialized Vice and Sexual Abuse cases changed. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 70 | 24 months | 96% | | 2017 | 72 | 27 months | 93% | | 2018 | 80 | 27 months | 89% | | 2019 | 82 | 27 months | 94% | | 2020 | 38 | 27 months | 89% | | 2021 | 58 | 30 months | 95% | | 2022 | 68 | 79 months | 90% | | 2023 | 46 | 84 months | 93% | | 2024 | 56 | 60 months | 89% | | 2025 | 42 | 75 months | 88% | ## What the Records Leave Out Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are those imposed, not time served. The crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, so the post reports federal numbers alone. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G1.1 (612), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served. **Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial. **Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less. **Mandatory minimum sentences.** Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g1-3-promoting-a-commercial-sex-act-or-prohibited/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g3-1-importing-mailing-or-transporting-obscene-matter/) (same guideline chapter part) - [§2G2.6 Child Exploitation Enterprises: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2g2-6-child-exploitation-enterprises/) (same guideline chapter part) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.